Return of the blogging

It's been a hundred years since I have last written a blog post. Life has been busy. We moved out of A's house and are still working on getting the Sparks house rented or sold. Most importantly, we FINALLY moved in to our new old home. Note that I didn't say that our new old home is finished. The reality is that it is still very much a construction zone. Hubby couldn't resist not sleeping here despite the dust, bare unpainted walls, mud for a backyard, drafty windows, etc. So, here we are! The truth is that our house is beautiful, and I am amazed that all of my thrift shopping and the family painting efforts have culminated in an (almost) Dwell-worthy home.

The TO DO list:
Paint all trim
Paint ceiling touch ups
Srape paint from all windows
Repaint all windows
Paint exterior of house
Obtain and install storm windows
Acquire random pieces of furniture
Sand and polyeurethane stairs
Grade yard and install concrete patio
Install fence
Get remainder of household goods that government has skillfully "misplaced"
DECORATE
Throw housewarming party :)

More paint please

Hold on to your seats...this will shock you....we spent this weekend...wait for it...PAINTING!!! Yeh, not a big surprise. We were delighted that my friend S donated more hours of her time than she had planned to cover my office closet doors with a second coat of paint. And, even though Matt's college buddies bailed (one, who shall remain nameless, even said that he couldn't help because the new Harry Potter movie was being released...really? that's all you could come up with?), one drove out to help on Sunday. They say that during a crisis, you find out who your real friends are. I think that during a major house renovation and a call for painting, your true friends shine through. Thanks S and R!

One is Silver and the Other Gold

New friends lent a hand today as Matt and I were struggling to move a piece of the sectional that we bought from the Re-Store through our front door. Without missing a beat, our soon-to-be neighbors provided tools to remove the front door, moved the difficult piece that I was trying to navigate, and volunteered to assist hubby the remaining 3 trips to pick up the other pieces. Thank you new friends!

Old friends gathered to celebrate the wedding of my dear childhood and college friend (the groom). The setting was a lovely, family-run vineyward in the middle of nowhere mountains of Western Virgnia. Hubby got a chance to see three of his closest college buddies, and in addition to chatting with them and their wives/signficant others, I was able to catch up with an old high school (and college) beau. Even though the college buddies don't see each other regularly, and I haven't really talked to the groom in a few years, those old ties bind. Hubby and his buddies fall right back into their silly antics and recollections from the "good old days." How many times is the "hot wings" story funny? Apparently every time that it is told!

I think that old friendships become new again as we share new experiences. I'm reminded of my old Campfire Girls Days and the song, "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold."

3 days...1 week tops.

Three days...one week...tops. Famous last words of our flooring guy. Seriously...how do these people manage to make a living...oh wait...that's right, residents like us don't know how/have time to install hardwood floors and are therefore at your mercy. So, needless to sat, we've passed the three day mark. We've passed the one week mark. They were installing floors today...let's hope that it lasts.

My dearth in postings is due to the fact that every waking moment that hasn't been spent working or moving has been spent painting. I inherited by dad's nose and my mom's eyes, but neither of them passed their painting gene to me. I suck, and I'm okay with that. They, on the other hand, don't suck at painting. In fact, they're quite good. Mom can cut in (that's painting talk for painting the top of the wall without getting one drop of it on the ceiling) with the best of them. This weekend, my parents came to visit and painted. Mom on the ladder. Dad holding the bottom. Hubby and I were listening to them quietly bicker while we painted the need-no-painting-skill door frames a room away. Going through this renovation has made me appreciate my parents' ability to stay together throughout all that they have done. Renovating is a stressor. It is a constant stress on the indivdiuals and on the couple. Hubby and I have a pretty darn good marriage, and this renovation has pushed us to our share of squabbles, meltdowns (okay, that one is mostly me), and financial freak outs (that one is mostly hubby). What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Well, our relationship muscle is going to be ready for Olympic weight lifting by the end of this project...whenever that may be.

Everything has been running behind/taking longer/requiring more permits, etc. We are out of the leaking he#$-hole formerly known as our apartment. Our lease was up July 1, and we thought FOR SURE that we'd be in the house by then...silly novices. Our realtor (God bless her soul) allowed us to move into her house while she is honeymooning and is now living with her husband. She is amazing, and her house totally rocks. Needless to say, my tolerance for inconsistent contractors just increased. As long as A doesn't sell her house, I'm content to stay. Actually, if we should happen to sell the house that we haven't gotten to live in yet and anyone has an extra $200K lying around and wants to throw it my way, I'll gladly purchase A's beautiful old home with all of its quirks and creaky floors. I've grown fond of mowing the lawn, watering the plants, and sitting on the porch. I love walking to the gym and the park. Hubby gets upset because he wants me to like our house as much as I like this one. We'll get there...someday.

Behind schedule

So, last weekend was first our move-in weekend, then our painting-marathon weekend, but in reality it was our scrape-and paint-exterior-windows-in-the-100-degree heat weekend. Ugh. Needless to say, for more reasons that I care to think about, the house is behind schedule.

The good news:
1. We have drywall
2. The in-laws have a lovely planter for us for our front step
3. We bought a brand new sectional at the Re-Store for cheap (of course)

The bad news:
1. I pulled a quad muscle playing kickball which (un)fortunately won't affect my ability to paint
2. The city can't seem to figure out what they want us to do about our drainage situation
3. We are still behind schedule and can't do a thing about it

Door #1

Hubby's been a little anxious lately. He's been itching to DO something at the house. So, when the weather finally stabilized, we went to the house and did what our limited home improvement skills allowed. First, Matt cut down an invasive plant/tree. All went well until the last part of the stump crashed into my upper thigh. I have a nice baseball sized bruise, and I need to find a good story to accompany it :) Then, we started the nasty P word...painting. We painted one door and trim before the thunderstorm hit. Door #1 looks great and is a symbolic step ahead.

Today is our three year anniversary! Hard to imagine that we were in SF three years ago saying "I do " on the steps of the court house. Last year, we were in Paris for our anniversary. We stayed here. We didn't celebrate our love in an international location this year, but we did indulge in a lunch at Volt on Friday. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Weekend in town

Living local. Highlights:
1. Scored Italian marble at remnant prices for vanities
2. Saw our contractor's beautiful wine racks at a local coffee shop...The Main Cup From there, Matt dropped me at the tea shop where I worked for the afternoon and evening. I met lots of people during the Egg-Stravagana themed First Saturday. People from Emmitsburg, Winchester, DC, Rockville, England, and plenty of locals enjoyed shopping for delicious teas and tea-wares.

After a brief but solid night's sleep, I scrubbed the apartment and then we went to brunch at Firestones with some new friends. The food was decent but not stellar and not worth the price. Then, on to Westminster to the Tractor Supply Store...leave it to me to find cute, european boots at Tractor Supply :) Sadly, I left them behind. But, we had a lovely visit with the in-laws who were in both good health and good spirits. Now, shrimp stir-fry with the new spices that M's dad couldn't wait to give him.

Day #3 of Paleo eating has been good, although beyond feeling more balanced for a few hours during the first day, I haven't noticed any other benefits...I'm trying to be patient.